E-Learning and K-12

Abstract

Distance education has been around since a reliable postal service, and has long been viewed as a way in which to offer lifelong learning to those who are geographically separated from traditional institutions, have obligations that limit their ability to attend regular courses, or prefer to learn in new ways. Interest in online or e-learning has grown enormously since 1990, and currently, almost every post-secondary institution offers courses using information technologies. More importantly, while traditional distance learning courses have been offered to the K-12 population as enrichment activities for a long time, the growth in online K-12 offerings has more than paralleled that in the post-secondary environment. Post-secondary and K-12 institutions have shared the challenge of creating a balance between the need for intense and personal interaction with the reality of limited financial and other resources, and have also shared a dependence on electronic networks and groupware (Mangan, 1999; Schrum, 1998).